Exciting Weekend

Good Morning, all you Kingdom Seekers,

Just a few minutes here to let you know about the exciting weekend I had. I had mentioned in a post or two ago that my very favorite Bible teacher was coming to my home church. Well, Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum did come and held a three day conference absolutely free of charge. He taught on the book of Zechariah and if you've every read Zechariah you know that you need someone to help you understand all those visions and all the symbolism. Dr. Fruchtenbaum is a Messianic Jew and because of his Jewish background teaches the Bible like no other. It was such a privilege to see him in person and I had him sign every book that I own which he has authored; and that's quite a few. I encourage you to visit his website (http://www.ariel.org/) and take advantage of his free teaching under the 'Come and See' link; and then order any of his teaching - you will be blessed and edified in the Word of God.

Here's a couple of pictures from the weekend:

This is myself (on the end closest to the center aisle), my best friend Tracie, my niece Angie, and my sister Carol listening to Dr. Fruchtenbaum. What studious Bible scholars we are!!! Notice we are right up front!!!




Here is a picture of myself with Dr. Fruchtenbaum. What a privilege to hear this awesome man of God. I wanted my picture taken with him because I may not see him again until we are in heaven and then we will all sit at the feet of 'The Master' and let Him teach us. My hair looks absolutely horrible in this picture; it must be from all the learnin' we did. My brain was about to explode from all the information Dr. F taught us and my head was little lopsided from it. The way my hair is in this picture, I look like a conehead.





Gotta run, be blessed today,

Your Kingdom Seekin' Mama,

Hi, all you K.S. gals,

Just a quick post to say 'Hi' and let you in on what's new. I started a new college class last night on the book of Romans. I'm not taking this class for credit as I am already working on my Doctorate through another college; but since this was offered at my home church (via Tyndale Theological Seminary - good, solid school; I highly recommend it, check it out) and I'm doing Romans for my Doctorate degree (which is via Internet) at this time, I thought it would help me to sit in a classroom with a live professor to whom I can ask questions (a disadvantage to doing college online, but I'm grateful for online schooling, it definitely works with my schedule).

Anyway, the class last night was so interesting and I thought I would share with you some of the things that we learned that a lot of people may not know. Here goes:

Did you know that the gospel or the 'good news' has not always been the same message throughout the dispensations of time? The 'good news' of the coming Messiah, in the OT, was definitely different than the gospel message we hear today. And the time period that Christ was on earth the message was different from both OT and NT (NT meaning the church age or the dispensation of grace). OT message was the law and the prophets which pointed to the coming Messiah, who would solve their 'sin problem' and usher in the Kingdom upon their acceptance of the Christ (however, as you know, they rejected their Messiah and the legitimate offer of the Messianic Kingdom; so the offer was withdrawn and will be made again at a future date).

While Jesus was on earth the Kingdom offer was made available to the Jewish nation. It was a genuine offer, but was not accepted. The Jews did not want a king that was a suffering servant, but they wanted a conquering King. And so the 'good news' or gospel message was different from OT and NT in that it was the message of the 'Kingdom of God.' Jesus said in Luke 16:16, "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."

Since the time of Christ's death, which purchased our salvation, the 'good news' is the message of grace for all men.

Here are the notes from the class about this topic:
It's important that we don't confuse the uses of the word 'gospel' in the Scriptures.
Dr. C. I. Scofield identifies 4 different messages of good news:

1) The Gospel of the Kingdom - This is the good news that God purposes to set up on the earth, in the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7), a kingdom, political, spiritual, Israelitish, universal, over which God's son, David's heir, shall be King, and which shall be, for one thousand years, the manifestation of the righteousness of God in human affairs... (there are two preaching of this gospel - one past, one future).
a) Beginning with John the Baptist, continued by our Lord and His disciples and ending with
the Jewish rejection of the King.
b) During the great tribulation and immediately preceding the Lord's return (Matt. 24:14).

2) The Gospel of the grace of God - This is the good news that Jesus Christ, the rejected King, has died on the cross for the sins of the world, that He was raised from the dead for our justification, and that by Him all that believe are justified from all things (this is the gospel of God described in Romans 1:1).

3) The everlasting Gospel - (Rev. 14:6) This is the good news to be preached to the earth-dwellers at the very end of the great tribulation and immediately preceding the judgement of the nations (Matt. 25). It is neither the gospel of the Kingdom, nor of grace. Though its burden is judgement, not salvation, it is good news to Israel and to those who, during the tribulation, have been saved.

4) That which Paul calls 'My Gospel' - (Romans 2:16) This is the good news of the grace of God in its fullest development, but includes the revelation of the result of that Gospel in the out-calling of the church, her relationships, position, privileges, and responsibility. It is the distinctive truth of Ephesians and Colossians, but inter-permeates all of Paul's writings.


Whew!!! That's a lot to wrap your mind around. I pray that you will consider this and pray for all truth. Pray for all truth in all things. You will be abundantly, spiritually blessed for it!!!

Be blessed today sweeties,
Your Kingdom Seeking' Mama,

Catching Up

Hey, all you Kingdom Seekers,

Whew! My life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately. My precious 83 year old mother just spent 15 days in the hospital with an ailment that had the doctors baffled until they did exploratory surgery. Once the problem was discovered and remedied, the recovery began only to have new issues pop up one after another. Her entire hospital stay should only have been 6 or 7 days, however she was released on day 16. She is still very weak and I solicit your prayers. But, our God is faithful in all things and so our trust is in Him that she will make a complete recovery and quickly return to her old self.

The only good thing that has come out of my mom's hospitalization is that I've lost 7 1/2 lbs. - WooHoo!!! I'm going to try and keep this weight-loss going - pray for me!

Here in southwestern Ohio it has been in the 80's. Absolutely beautiful outside! Everything is blooming and how appropriate since Easter is only 2 days away. Myself, Bob, and the boys sat around our fire pit and roasted marshmallows after the sun went down last night. I so enjoy our family times together. The boys and myself will be coloring our eggs today and what beautiful weather to be outside for an Easter egg hunt.

I'm so excited because in a couple of weeks my very favorite Bible teacher is coming to my home church for a 3 day conference. Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum (www.ariel.org) will be at Grace Baptist Church, Mason, OH on April 16 - 18 and will be doing a verse by verse teaching on the book of Zechariah. If you have never heard Dr. Fruchtenbaum please visit his website; there is a lot of free material for your spiritual edification. He is Jewish and because of his up-bring in Judaism, has an advantage in teaching us the Bible like no other Bible teacher I know. He is a great scholar and theologian and if you are in the area I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to hear Dr. Fruchtenbaum and be blessed.

I want to leave you with a quote from a book that I am reading right now from Dr. Paul Tripp:

We all live on the continuum between slavery and freedom. The Bible warns about he deceitfulness of sin and its bondage. It is full of promises of the freedom we have in Christ. But our culture has its own warnings and promises of freedom, false solutions promised in various theories of change. These alternative theories seem appealing. They promise us that we can avoid chaos, live in freedom, and keep our own agenda and pride intact.

Christians have always faced these problems. We have always had to sift through false promises and theories of change. Even in the first century, Paul had these words for fellow believers:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus our Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ (Col. 2:6-8niv).

Paul is concerned that we not allow ourselves to be taken "captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy." The Greek word translated "taken captive" is actually closer to "abducted" or "kidnapped.'' Paul's point is that we can be abducted by falsehood when we least expect it. He urges us to live with our eyes open to the culture influences that seek to gain our allegiance when we are not really paying attention. Don't be fooled. Don't think that Paul's advice applies only to big decisions and major doctrines. It is in the little moments of life that battles are lost or won.*

Gotta run, be blessed today and God glorified,
Your K.S. Mama,



*Paul Tripp, 'How People Change,' New Growth Press, Greensboro, 2006, pg. 23.